Friday the 13th
Many people around the world dread the sixth day of the week and the number 13. They get paranoid if the Friday falls on the 13th of the month. There’s even a name to describe those who have an irrational fear of Friday the 13th : paraskevidekatriaphobics.
In the UK, many people don’t drive on this day. In the US, there are people who won’t go to work on Friday the 13th. Some won’t eat out in restaurants and almost no one gets married on this day. Some American cities skip a 13th Avenue or a 13th Street. Many hotels skip from 12th to the 14th floor, which of course means that the 14th floor is actually the 13th floor. A name with 13 letters is believed to have the devil’s luck – like Jack the Ripper. And if 13 people sit down for dinner together, all are said to die within the year. In India too, many people consider 13 to be inauspicious.
Friday is named after Goddess Frigga, the most important Scandinavian goddess but the day is considered unlucky in some cultures. Formerly, British sailors often refused to set sail on a Friday. It is said that the British ship H.M.S. Friday was commissioned on a Friday. Captained by J. Friday, it set off on its maiden voyage on a Friday and, disappeared forever.
There are many people, however, for whom Friday and the number 13 are lucky. Novelist Charles Dickens reportedly began the writing of all his books on a Friday, the day of his birth. Some point to the nearly catastrophic Apollo mission to the moon in 1970 as evidence that the number 13 is unlucky.
But these are superstitions, and they arise out of fear and co-incidence!
